Bible/Theology
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and…
I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able (1 Corinthians 3:2) Note the past tense verb, gave milk, referring to times in the past when Paul taught the Corinthians milk because they were not ready for meat and that…
Some propose that it is unusually cruel of God to punish man for eternity, regardless of what man did. This perspective is erroneous for four reasons. First, it is based on an inadequate view of the heinousness of sin. Because man is sinful, he is utterly incapable of apprehending or appreciating the sinfulness of sin.…
Grace enablements include but are not limited to God’s salvific love for all (John 3:16), God’s manifestation of his power so that all may know he is the Sovereign (Isa 45:21–22), and Creator (Rom 1:18–20), which assures that everyone has an opportunity to know about him. Christ paying for all sins (Luke 22:20;[1] John 1:29),…
We can see the cooperation between human wisdom and divine wisdom in the need to build and maintain the physical church building with primarily human wisdom, and the spiritual church building with exclusively divine wisdom (1 Corinthians 3:1-21). Blurring this distinction results in being in opposition to God. We build the temple according to God’s…
There are a number of ideas regarding what constitutes “wood, hay, straw,” and “gold silver precious stone” in 1Corinthians 3:12. I suggest that gold, silver, and precious stones refer to God’s wisdom (as revealed in His Word), and wood, hay, and straw refer to man’s wisdom. The key to understanding the Corinthian problem is Paul’s…
Church discipline visibly demonstrates the seriousness of sin as well as both the holiness and love Christ calls His church to live (Matthew 18:15-20). When church discipline is first implemented, the immediate fallout may appear to be all negative. However, in time the church will benefit by having honored God with obedience, and the credibility…
Christians can feel free to cry at a funeral. While we do rejoice that our loved ones who know Christ as Savior go to be with Jesus, death is still a sorrowful time. Jesus did weep at the death of Lazarus (John 11:35). We are not like those without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), but as…
I just concluded a six-week series on John 12:27-50 entitled The Dynamic of the Gospel Encounter. This passage gives extraordinary insight into what actually transpires when the gospel is shared. In this series, I contrast the perspective of Calvinism and Extensivism. That is to say, does the passage teach that God unconditionally elected some to…
The Scripture clearly teaches that while all sin is sin, some sins are more sinful than others. Matthew 12:30-32 speaks of the unpardonable sin, in contrast to every other sin which can be forgiven by faith in Christ; Matthew 23:23 speaks of the “weightier provisions of the law;” John 19:11 says that in comparison to…